Taking on the "Traditional ACC"

By Kartik Krishnaiyer
Canes Rising Staff

Today the Canes have a chance to make a statement beyond winning eight games and stopping NC State from becoming bowl eligible. The Canes have a chance to win a game on the road against what I call a traditional ACC opponent. When Miami joined the league in 2004 we heard boats of how the Canes would dominate in football what was a traditional Basketball league. However entering today's game in Raleigh, Miami is just 13-9 against what I call the "traditional ACC" since joining the league in Football, and only 9-9 when you take Duke out of the equation. The traditional ACC are schools that were in the defunct Southern conference and then moved to the new ACC in the 1950s. These seven schools are Maryland, Virginia, Clemson and the four North Carolina schools/ Of the seven schools that constitute the traditional ACC, six of them have deeper basketball traditions than football traditions, the one exception being Clemson. In fact Virginia was so bad in Football that the first 29 meetings with Clemson after the ACC was founded, the Cavs lost. The other "traditional ACC" schools had similarly dubious records against the Tigers in Football prior to 1990, while Clemson has never beaten North Carolina in 55 tries in Chapel Hill in Men's Basketball.

Of the five newest ACC members, four have been perennial powerhouses in Football at one time or another and the fifth Boston College boasts a pretty good football record over the past 15 years. With the addition of former SEC powerhouse Georgia Tech in the 1980s and Florida State in the 1990s, ACC Football became a much more presentable product although these schools boasted no natural rivalries within the ACC and in many ways ruined the chemistry of the conference, making the additions of Miami, Virginia Tech and Boston College less disruptive to the natural order of the conference than many carolinians claimed.

When Georgia Tech joined the ACC they had never made the NCAA Tournament in Basketball but had played for several national titles in Football. Almost 25 years into the Jackets ACC life and they have won a football title for the league (Tech did win a national title in the SEC in the 1950s and two before conferences were formed in the early part of the 1900s) and made the Final Four in Basketball twice. So the lesson is the relationship was beneficial for both parties: Tech elevated ACC football and ACC Basketball improved the Jackets immeasurably.
Florida State has won two national titles for the league in football since joining although despite finishing second in the league its first two seasons in Basketball, the Seminoles have become a joke in round ball.

Miami's record against the traditional ACC in football over the past five seasons has been an embarrassment. For all the boasts of how Miami would play anyone anywhere (and believe me, the Canes would. As someone who lived through the 1980s it seemed like Miami could schedule NFL teams on the road and win) the failure to consistently beat traditional football bottom feeders makes it appear as if Miami as a program has a problem handling the weekly grind of conference football.

One note on today's game and coverage here. The Basketball team plays Stetson today at home and to make that game I will actually miss a great percentage of the football game. As of 10:30 AM Saturday, I am still undecided on what course of action to take. If left to my instincts I'd blow off the football game and head to see the Basketball team play. (The rationale of the Basketball team being ranked and the Football team not being ranked has been used in my head but truth be told I don't care about national rankings in either sport: they are totally meaningless in the larger scheme of things for both programs) This was the decision I made a year ago this weekend when confronted with a similar situation. That day the Canes played Morgan State in Basketball and played at BC in Football. But with a huge game looming against Ohio State on Tuesday and this being the last opportunity this season to see what has been a pleasantly exciting young football team, I'm torn. Chances are I will not make a decision until an hour before tip off in the Basketball game whether I actually get in the car and drive down to the BUC.